The rest of the front page is devoted to two meat stories, Jim Shahin's piece on lamb, featuring an enticing looking recipe for Grilled Southwestern-Style Lamb Kebabs, and David Hagedorn's special about pork, with recipes for ham and pork belly.

Lastly, there was a very lively discussion on today's Free Range Food section chat, including the possibility that I may have inspired a new cocktail at Poste--will have to follow up about that.

New York TimesMany people who love cooking also harbor a love for cooking gadgets. I'm one of them, although my small kitchen means that I have to be very careful about what I acquire. I try to stay away from specialty devices, but there are a few things I acquired with much hope but never use (among them a food mill, pasta pot with insert, and George Foreman grill). William Grimes' feature on such gadgets is a fun read, turning up such limited-use items as the salmon poacher, polenta maker and a pasta drying rack.

Eric Asimov has an educational story about attending a tasting of 1982 Bordeaux wines, tracing contemporary developments in winemaking back to that apparently classic year. I've never had a red wine that old, which would be interesting to try.

Lastly, in a nod to this weekend's fifth-season premiere of Mad Men, Robert Simonson has a story about the history of the Old Fashioned, Don Draper's favored cocktail (for anyone reading Free Range, this is where I got the idea to infuse whiskey with peanuts).

The VerdictThe Washington Post. There were great stories in the Times this week, but after reading them, my mind wandered quickly back to those exciting coffee recipes in the Post.